This paper examines Swedish government communications during the Covid -19 pandemic.Theoretically, the study departs from the notion of crisis as both a threat and an opportunity. Fromthis perspective, a political crisis can be understood as a calculated act in which successful actorsmanage to exploit the situation to their advantage by demonstrating action (or non-action).Accordingly, political actors always have a choice to associate or dissociate themselves frommanaging crisis responses for strategic reasons.Sweden’s response to the outbreak of Covid -19 in Spring 2020 surprised the rest of the world. Incontrast to most other countries, no heavy restrictions and lockdowns were imposed and thestrategy to the deal with the pandemic was based on individual responsibility and voluntaryrecommendations. In communicating the crisis, public health authorities on national and regionallevels played more prominent roles than the national government. Scientific evaluations of thesituation were most of the time not contested by political parties in government and opposition.Two years after, it can be noted that overall excess mortality in Sweden is not very different fromother countries in Europe that took another route in fighting the pandemic. In the recent generalelections in September 2022 government management of the pandemic was a non-issue.This study discusses possible explanations for the development of government crisiscommunication patterns in Sweden, addressing the relative importance of existing governmentalorganizational structures, previous experiences of government communication shortcomingsduring crisis, as well as political actors’ strategies and rationales when dealing with the crisis.